noisycricket
Sometimes the things you need to do get in the way of the things you want to do. That is partly what this is about though, the struggles of daily life intertwined with high expectations and goals.
I’ve been trying to sit down and write a race report all week but instead I have spent Sunday through to today prepping, painting, purchasing supplies, and scheduling installations for a bathroom remodel. I had one have everything ready for tile by Wednesday and until Sunday I had been spending all my extra time training and prepping for race day. After Saturday I spent every bit of my free time taping, mudding and painting. I really hate taping. Almost as much as I hate mudding.
The tile installers have made short work of the job and will be done today. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve anything close to the same quality in quadruple the time. I am still waiting on a vanity to arrive and be installed before the plumbing can be finished. Then I can finally use my bathroom again! Remodeling is the best. On to a race recap.
I slept absolutely terrible the night before. I know, who sleeps well before a race? I may have gotten a total of 3 hours, maybe. Not the best way to start out the day. I really need to make sure that doesn’t happen again. One of the most stressful parts of racing (for me) is all the logistics of getting to the start line. For this race it meant leaving early enough to find a parking spot downtown with plenty of extra time to catch a train to the start. Since the majority of runners catch the train you need to make sure you have time to spare in the event you have to wait a few trains before there is space available. This morning everything went really smoothly. I found a parking spot easily and was able to catch the first train within minutes of arriving at the station. I even ran into a friend from elementary school on the train. I got to the start with just enough time to make that last bathroom break, warmup a little and drop off my gear bag.
The first 2 miles of this race have 3 short punchy climbs and one steep decent. I stayed fairly conservative on the climbs and let it fly on the decent. Once I hit the top of the last short climb I tried to settle into a good pace and get into a nice rhythm. For the most part I felt good the entire race. Despite the lack of sleep I felt strong and I was able to hold my goal pace pretty easily. I never felt stretched or outside myself which is both good and bad. Good in that my run fitness is strong and I am getting faster. Bad in that it probably means I didn’t push as hard as I could have. I finished strong and hit a 2 minute PR on this course. I am very happy with the result but I can’t help wonder if (and how much) I could have pushed harder. There is only one way to find out. I think I need to race more and test pushing the pace early rather than being conservative. Racing “Prefontaine style” is a good way to test your limits. Both psychically and mentally. Time to channel my inner Pre.